I Do: Colored Wedding Gowns
We share why colored wedding gowns are an I DO in our series: I Do/ I Don’t, where we split the pros and cons between the hottest wedding trends.
Looking at all of the hot, controversial wedding trends, in this week’s I DO/I Don’t series I’m highlighting the benefits of colored wedding gowns!
A white wedding dress is a relatively short-lived trend, stemming from a bouquet of symbolism—like many aspects of the traditional marriage. Rumor has it that the trend was spotlighted by Queen Victoria in England in the 19th century. Brought further in the light through Godey’s Lady Book, a 19th century American magazine or gift book geared toward women, Godey’s idolized Queen Victoria as the epitome of womanhood.
While white dresses also represent a virginal bride, purity, and innocence, they’ve only been popular in the western world for roughly 200 years due to advancements in textile production.
Back then and today white wedding dresses are a status symbol more than anything else. Since their inception in society as a norm, intricate beading and pearl adornments have been added, influential wedding gown designs have been created and bridal stores are dedicated to thousands of styles of solely white dresses.
Today, designers and brides are straying from the norm. Photos of Jessica Biel’s recent Italian wedding to Justin Timberlake showed the bride dressed in a delicate, lacey pink gown designed by Giambattista Valli. Vera Wang, an influential designer in the wedding world even released a slew of gorgeous black gowns for production earlier this year.
Colored wedding gowns are in! Wearing a color other than white can not only help you tie your dress into your color scheme a bit easier, but they’re stylish, they’re a bit different and they’re truly exciting—for the bride, the guests, and the groom who won’t have the pleasure of seeing the dress before the big day!
White gowns are a hit or miss. They often make the bride look a bit washed-out and don’t really compliment every skin tone. If you’re fair skinned, perhaps, it may be more flattering to check out a pale pink, a light yellow or a gold colored wedding gown.
Being curvy, it was a nightmare to find the best fitting, most flattering white dress for my own nuptials. I would have been so much better off standing in front of my guests in a bright red floor length gown. If I knew back then what I know today…
I’m all for colored wedding dresses. The trend is fun and unique, it takes us into a more modern wedding culture and while it’s still a dress that you’ll keep and prize forever, you’ll make a heck of a statement on your big day!